BILL ANALYSIS
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| SENATE COMMITTEE ON NATURAL RESOURCES AND WATER |
| Senator Fran Pavley, Chair |
| 2009-2010 Regular Session |
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BILL NO: AB 2214 HEARING DATE: August 10, 2010
AUTHOR: Fuentes URGENCY: No
VERSION: August 3, 2010 CONSULTANT: Marie Liu
DUAL REFERRAL: No FISCAL: Yes
SUBJECT: Public resources: Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy:
Pacoima Wash.
BACKGROUND AND EXISTING LAW
The Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy (conservancy) was
established by the Legislature in 1980 in order to create a
coordinated effort to protect the Santa Monica Mountains Zone, a
unique and valuable economic, environmental, agricultural,
scientific, educational, and recreational resource to be held in
trust for present and future generations. Lands protected under
the conservancy, the last of the large undeveloped areas
adjacent to the shoreline within the greater Los Angeles
metropolitan region, provide essential relief from the urban
environment. Since the conservancy's creation, it has helped to
preserve over 60,000 acres of parkland in both wilderness and
urban settings and improved more than 114 public recreational
facilities throughout Southern California.
PROPOSED LAW
This bill would require the conservancy, by June 30, 2012, to
complete a feasibility study for the Pacoima Wash that
establishes objectives for the development of a greenbelt around
the Pacoima Wash to expand recreational opportunities and
natural wildlife habitat improvement. The study must also
include an inventory of existing land and its uses, and an
analysis of land parcels along the Pacoima Wash that show
potential for greenbelt and recreational development.
This bill would require that the study be developed with
community input and that the conservancy request voluntary
cooperation from other governmental authorities with
jurisdiction over the Pacoima Wash. The conservancy would
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develop the feasibility study with existing budget resources.
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT
The author states, "The Pacoima Wash is a 10-mile flood control
channel that was built in the 1940s that runs from the Pacoima
Dam in the San Gabriel Mountains?and ending in the Arleta
Spreading Grounds. In between lie the communities of Sylmar,
Pacoima, and the City of San Fernando. With few pedestrian
connections across, and fencing along its entire length, the
Wash attracts trash, graffiti, and fosters undesirable uses and
activities, both within the Wash itself, as well as in locations
where streets dead-end into it. At a time when many similar
flood control channels, in Los Angeles and elsewhere are being
restored as community amenities, the Pacoima Wash stands as a
great opportunity. Currently space for physical activity is
desperately needed in the northeast San Fernando Valley?An
improved Pacoima Wash could bring recreational and open space,
serving as a key resource in improving health and environmental
conditions?This bill seeks to codify the importance of the
Pacoima Wash as illustrated by non-profit groups in the San
Fernando Valley and the undeniable community support and desire
for development of the Pacoima Wash into a recreational space
and open space."
ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION
None received
COMMENTS
The Pacoima Wash Initiative: Pacoima Beautiful, a
community-based nonprofit organization, has led a collaborative
community effort to create new green space in the North East San
Fernando Valley called the Pacoima Wash Initiative. The purpose
of the initiative is to create a vision plan which will guide
the transformation of the wash from a utilitarian flood control
channel into a linear green space composed of landscaped bike
and walking lanes that will link the communities of Arleta,
Pacoima, San Fernando, and Sylmar to parks and other community
resources. The initiative includes an outreach effort that has
involved over 16 focus groups with participation from youth
groups, homeowner associations, neighborhood councils, parent
centers, and various community organizations. The initiative has
completed its vision plan for the Sylmar section of the Wash
which is being incorporated into the Sylmar Community Plan. Over
the next year and a half, the initiative will complete the
Pacoima segment of the plan. According to the author, analyzing
the feasibility of incorporating the Pacoima Wash into the
conservancy will increase the viability of the initiative.
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Feasibility Study would be consistent with the conservancy's
strategic objectives: Among the conservancy's strategic
objectives- as expressed in its Fiscal Year 2008-2009 Annual
Report - is the integration of nature into the urban environment
by acquiring or creating parkland in urban areas and developing
joint power authorities. The conservancy also aims to create a
"comprehensive, regional, and integrated trails plan." Current
conservancy actions fulfilling these objectives include its
implementation of the Los Angeles County River Master Plan
establishing 51 miles of continuous river parkway and greenbelt.
The committee may find that this bill's requirement for the
conservancy to develop a feasibility study for the Pacoima Wash
is consistent with the conservancy's strategic objectives and
mission.
SUPPORT
Pacoima Beautiful
OPPOSITION
None Received
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